Over the weekend, Bruce Springsteen appeared on the couch on The Graham Norton Show on BBC One. The Boss, as he’s known, was promoting his new album, Only The Strong Survive, but the star wouldn’t have gotten down to playing music. If it weren’t for Elvis Presley.
Elvis, of course, influenced many musicians and artists throughout his career, but Bruce previously pointed to the King as the start of his own career.
The star first saw Elvis when he performed on The Ed Sullivan Show on September 9, 1956.
Elvis was just 21 years old at the time and was introduced to the TV show by British star Charles Laughton, who was filling in for the main presenter that night. Elvis performed a string of massive hits, including Don’t Be Cruel, Ready Teddy, and the iconic Hound Dog.
It was the final song on that list that left a young Bruce completely blown away.
Bruce recalled Hound Dog’s version of Elvis during his appearance on Desert Island Discs.
He said it was a song he “couldn’t live without”.
Bruce continued: “When I heard it, it went straight to my brain. I realized, all of a sudden, that there was more to life than what I had been living.”
READ MORE: Elvis Presley – Linda Thompson Recalls The King’s Name Ideas For Her Son
Years later, Bruce even tried to break into Elvis’ mansion, Graceland.
Bruce, 26, in 1976 left him on tour in Memphis, Tennessee, taking a cab to Graceland to pay his respects to the King.
He jumped over the fence and headed for the doors of the building. But he was stopped at the last second by security.
He asked the doorman, “Is Elvis home?” They told him, “No, Elvis is not home, he is in Lake Tahoe.”
However, Bruce was not discouraged. As he was being escorted out of the facility, he told the surrounding guards how famous he was and how he had recently been on the cover of Time magazine.
“The guards didn’t buy it,” he said, before adding, “Later on, I used to wonder what I would have said if I had knocked on the door and Elvis had come to the door because I wasn’t really going to see Elvis. But it was like he came and whispered a dream into everyone’s ear, and somehow we all dreamed it. And maybe that’s why we’re here tonight, I don’t know.”
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